Know the new laws that effect employees

If you read the news today, one thing we probably can all agree on is that things seem very unpredictable! While I don’t have a crystal ball, I do have some ideas about what we might want to keep an eye on in the employment arena over the next year.

Hollywood has led the way in the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements, and now they seem to be shining a spotlight on the gender pay gap. When actress Michelle Williams was paid less than $1,000 for movie reshoots while her male costar Mark Wahlberg was payed $1.5 million, widespread outrage ultimately forced Wahlberg to donate that money to charity. Congress has already been considering legislation to address gender pay equity in the Pay Equity for All Act of 2017. Something similar is moving through our state legislature with a bill introduced in Olympia that aims to modify the state’s Equal Pay Act. And another Olympia bill will prohibit employers from asking job seekers’ to disclose their salary history, and require them to provide position salary ranges upon request. The thought behind this is that women’s wages are traditionally lower. Asking an applicant for their salary history perpetuates pay gaps. And not disclosing the salary range enables an employer to lowball an applicant based on their previous pay.

The #MeToo movement also puts a strong spotlight on employees’ rights to harassment-free workplaces. Smart businesses will take this opportunity to review their policies and their internal training to ensure that they truly have an effective structure to prevent sexual harassment and to respond to any claims that are made. We may well see the Healthy Workplace Bill, which is a workplace-based anti-bullying law, come back around either in Olympia, or on the national stage as a result of this. While increased legislation may not pass, heightened awareness may result in more lawsuits and enforcement.

With unemployment low, and employers struggling to fill skilled positions, employers will continue to implement creative methods of filling their vacancies. Many companies drastically trimmed their training budgets during the recession, but look to see businesses start to again invest in their own workforce. Upskilling and retraining workers helps businesses to retain good workers, overcome skills gaps, effectively plan for the future, and save money in the long run. Promoting from within may well be the solution for many employers in this regard.

The shortage of skilled workers will also broaden our awareness of diversity. It’s no longer limited to hiring people of different races, religions, nationalities, ethnicities, etc. Beyond the protected classes, we must actively start to welcome people with serious barriers to employment. For instance, people re-entering the workforce after incarceration have a difficult time finding employment, many times resulting in reoffending. There are some innovative programs on the horizon to smooth this transition and get offenders into family wage jobs, benefiting them, the community and employers. In addition, we’re likely to see a “ban the box” law pass in our state, making it illegal for employers to ask about criminal history until after a job offer has been made.

The continued expansion of the “gig economy” and proliferation of contingent workers making a living off the W-2 grid has the attention of state and federal governments. Governments’ stated concerns are that these workers lack the safety net that traditional employment provides. And there is some truth to that. Many of these workers are not covered by unemployment, workers comp, and are not paying their payroll taxes, and in some cases are not claiming the income on their tax returns. All of this adds up to lost income for government. Watch for bills here and in Washington D.C. to continue to tighten these rules and address these issues.

When the current administration took over, they put a halt to the previous administration’s proposed changes to the FLSA that would have reclassified many non-exempt employees as exempt, qualifying them for overtime. The current Department of Labor, however, is expected this year to address the salary threshold for white collar exemptions, which is now set at $23,660. It’s predicted they will raise it to the mid-thirty thousands. Companies should start to look at their classifications and budgets in preparation for this change.

No doubt you read about the Immigration and Control Enforcement (ICE) agents raiding 7-11 stores across the country to bust them for hiring undocumented workers. Did you also hear that they plan to hire 10,000 more ICE agents to increase enforcement? It appears there will be an increased emphasis this year on targeting businesses for compliance, which means we all need to up our game when it comes to completing the I-9 process. A small error can result in big in fines. In California, the Attorney General will fine businesses $10,000 if they comply with ICE agents who don’t have a warrant or subpoena. These are tough times for businesses who may not be on top of all of the rules that pertain to verifying workers’ status and complying with government regulators.

Lastly, let’s talk about marijuana. Our state is considering a bill that would prohibit employers from taking any adverse action against an employee or job seeker for their participation in an activity that is lawful under state law. Since marijuana use is lawful in our state, this will likely affect many employers’ drug free workplace policies. But it will go even further in preventing employers from taking any negative action against an employee for their off duty behavior. If this passes, employers will need to thoroughly review their policies and handbooks for such things as moonlighting, non smoking policies, social media use, etc.

In this divisive, explosive and crazy world we now exist in, this is likely to be a year that we see interesting laws arise on a local, state and federal level, while we watch the courts step in with decisions as well. Hold on to your hats, folks, as it’s likely to be a bumpy ride!

Julie Tappero is CEO of West Sound Workforce, a staffing agency with offices in Gig Harbor and Poulsbo. Contact her at julie@westsoundworkforce.com.